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Entertainment News, Digital Advertising, Digital ContentTue, 16 Feb 2016 19:02:21 +0000en-UShourly1Take a Minute to Read This Story About Ted Cruz and Executionshttp://alldaynews.net/people/take-a-minute-to-read-this-story-about-ted-cruz-and-executions/
http://alldaynews.net/people/take-a-minute-to-read-this-story-about-ted-cruz-and-executions/#respondFri, 22 Jan 2016 14:39:42 +0000http://alldaynews.net/?p=1419I know that the story of Tailgunner Ted Cruz's lascivious fascination with putting people to death is probably going to win him points among the bloodthirsty Bible-bangers he's seeking to impress. But. Lord above, the story makes him sound creepy as hell.

I know that the story of Tailgunner Ted Cruz’s lascivious fascination with putting people to death is probably going to win him points among the bloodthirsty Bible-bangers he’s seeking to impress. But. Lord above, the story makes him sound creepy as hell.

Mr. Cruz became devoted to Mr. Luttig, whom Mr. Cruz has described as “like a father to me.” During his clerkship, he presented his boss with a caricature of him and other clerks pulling a stagecoach driven by the judge. According to someone who saw the illustration, there was a graveyard behind them with headstones representing the number of people executed in their jurisdiction that year … But Mr. Cruz usually reserved his enthusiasm for his unsparing death penalty memos or the late nights when a prisoner from the appeals circuit under Chief Justice Rehnquist’s oversight was slated for execution. On those nights, when he was responsible for addressing the flurry of 11th-hour motions from defense lawyers, he would rouse the chief justice at home, give his recommendation, get the chief justice’s vote and then write up a memo that explained why the chief justice had voted to deny an emergency postponement of the execution. Per custom, Mr. Cruz, whom some clerks recalled as speaking flippantly of the execution during those solemn nights, would circulate that memo to the other eight clerks on duty, who would then call their bosses to vote on the appeal. During one of those late-night executions, some clerks received an additional message from Mr. Cruz on the internal email pleading for more collegiality, especially toward him. “We should all try and get along,” Mr. Cruz wrote.

Uriah Heep with the heart of a hangman. Trump, I understand. This guy, though, seems seriously twisted.

]]>http://alldaynews.net/people/take-a-minute-to-read-this-story-about-ted-cruz-and-executions/feed/0Here’s the Second ‘Suicide Squad’ Trailerhttp://alldaynews.net/world/heres-the-second-suicide-squad-trailer/
http://alldaynews.net/world/heres-the-second-suicide-squad-trailer/#respondWed, 20 Jan 2016 14:14:58 +0000http://alldaynews.net/?p=1415The "worst of the worst" return in the second trailer for Suicide Squad.

The first killer trailer premiered at Comic Con this summer and blew away audiences with looks at “the most dangerous people on the planet” in action providing more Margot Robbie gifable moments than one can choose from, first impressions of lesser known characters, and of course, a fleeting, but terrifying look at Jared Leto’s Joker. Discussing the villains for hire during the special Will Smith playing Deadshot “the world’s greatest marksman” describes the film saying, “It’s not a movie about good vs. evil, it’s a movie about bad vs. evil.”

Set to the tune of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” the new amped up trailer gives us a crazy look at, well, the crazy Harley Quinn, the Joker, and the Squad blowing stuff up as they embark on what’s supposed to be their death sentence. There’s loads more of the Joker, including a Tony Montana “Say Hello to My Little Friend” moment, more of El Diablo “guy who burns people,” Killer Croc “guy who eats people,” Enchantress, and comedic moments like Boomerang’s booze break and Harley Quinn’s quickie robbery, which she justifies:

“We’re bad guys, it’s what we do.”

Starring Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, and Viola Davis as the U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller responsible for assembling them all, Suicide Squad hits theaters August 5.

Black Lives Matter activists on the westbound span of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge as part of a long weekend of protests aimed at reclaiming Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy of radicalism.

Protesters with the Black Lives Matter movement blocked traffic on the westbound span of the Bay Bridge that connects Oakland and San Francisco as part of a long weekend of protests aimed at reclaiming Martin Luther King Jr’s legacy of radicalism.

Shortly after 3.30pm, a caravan of cars slowed to a stop on the five-lane bridge. Passengers in the first line of cars passed chains through their windows and locked themselves to both sides of the bridge, bringing all westbound traffic to a stop.

“Today is the day when we reclaim MLK’s radical legacy,” said April Thomas, who was chained between two cars. “I’m out here for Tamir Rice, Rekia Boyd, for my mother, myself, for Harriet Tubman.”

Dozens of protesters streamed out of cars and onto the roadway, chanting, singing, and erecting a banner reading “Black health matters”. One activist erected a wooden shrine bearing the names of victims of police shootings.

In a statement, organizers of the protest said they were shutting down the bridge to “to demand investment in the wellbeing of black people”.

While some angry commuters honked and, in a few cases, confronted the protesters, others leaned out their windows to take pictures of the spectacle.

Officers from the California Highway Patrol arrived soon after the blockade was in place. Wearing riot gear and carrying less-lethal weapons, the officers ordered onlookers back into their cars. About 4.15pm, the officers began cutting chains and arresting protesters. Some protesters passively resisted arrest and had to be carried to the side of the road.

According to organizers of the protest, 24 people were arrested in total. Traffic began moving again at 4.30pm.

The bridge shutdown caps off four days of protest in the Bay area, where the Black Lives Matter movement has been galvanized by the fatal shooting of Mario Woods by San Francisco police officers on 2 December 2015.

Cellphone videos of the shooting of 26-year-old Woods, who was black, were widely circulated on social media, prompting outrage in the city’s shrinking African American community. Malia Cohen, a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors, described the incident as an “ethnically diverse firing squad”, and several members of the board have called for a federal investigation by the US Department of Justice.

Woods was allegedly armed with a kitchen knife when he was surrounded by at least 10 police officers who say he matched the description of a suspect in an earlier stabbing in the neighborhood. Five officers opened fire on Woods, killing him.

Shortly after the shooting, San Francisco police chief Greg Suhr told a community meeting that Woods had extended his knife toward police officers, an apparent justification of the shooting. But additional video of the shooting obtained by John Burris, the civil rights lawyer representing Woods’ family in a federal civil rights lawsuit, appears to show that Woods’ arms were at his sides when officers opened fire.

The incident has touched off renewed calls for police reform and racial justice in a city that prides itself on its diversity and liberal politics.

Mayor Ed Lee, the police chief, and the police officer’s union have called for police to be armed with Tasers, which they say could have prevented the shooting. San Francisco is one of the only cities in the country where police are not allowed to carry electric stun guns, in large part due to widespread community opposition. The police commission, which sets policy for the department, has initiated a review of San Francisco police department’s use-of-force policies.

But for many, these measures are insufficient. On Saturday, activists held early morning protests at the homes of Lee and Suhr, calling for Suhr’s resignation, the firing of the officers involved in the police shootings, and the reduction of police budgets. Protesters have also demonstrated at the homes of the Oakland mayor and police chief, both the San Francisco and Oakland airports, shouted Lee off the stage at an annual Martin Luther King Day breakfast event, and picketed a local fast food restaurant where they say a black worker was fired unjustly.

“I love black people, and all people,” said Zach Norris, one of the protesters chained to the cars. “We consistently see black folk are criminalized and killed when they have mental health issues. We’re here to say healthcare not warfare.”

]]>http://alldaynews.net/world/black-lives-matter-protesters-block-san-franciscos-bay-bridge/feed/0Life Before the Taliban: Fascinating Photos Show Short Skirts, Flash Cars and no Burkas Before Afghanistan Plunged Into Hellhttp://alldaynews.net/world/life-before-the-taliban-fascinating-photos-show-short-skirts-flash-cars-and-no-burkas-before-afghanistan-plunged-into-hell/
http://alldaynews.net/world/life-before-the-taliban-fascinating-photos-show-short-skirts-flash-cars-and-no-burkas-before-afghanistan-plunged-into-hell/#respondMon, 18 Jan 2016 20:51:57 +0000http://alldaynews.net/?p=1362The collection was shot by university professor Dr. Bill Podlich from Arizona during a two-year stint with Unesco The amateur photographer set out to document the serene way...

The collection was shot by university professor Dr. Bill Podlich from Arizona during a two-year stint with Unesco

The amateur photographer set out to document the serene way of life in Afghanistan featuring locals and scenery

Images include school pupils happily playing, a smiling boy decorating cakes, and people swimming in the river

The eye-opening collection was captured by university professor Dr Bill Podlich from Arizona, who swapped life in America to travel to Kabul with his wife, Margaret, and two teenage daughters, Jan and Peg.

Using his Kodachrome film, his images show a peaceful Afghanistan making strides towards a more liberal and Westernised lifestyle – a stark contrast to harrowing sights seen during Taliban regime.

Fun in the sun: Jan (left) and Peg (right) Podlich at Paghman Gardens, which was destroyed during the years of war before the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan

Friends: Pictured are Afghan girls coming home from school. The girls, as well as boys, were educated up to the high-school level, and although both sexes wore uniforms, the girls were not allowed to wear a chadri on their way to secondary school. Able young women attended college, as did the men

Hanging out: Hoards of happy citizens gather on large trucks, which served as portable grandstands

Peaceful: Men relax in the shade overlooking Istalif, a centuries-old centre for pottery, located northwest of Kabul

Family bond: Two colourful sisters, hand in hand, pose for a photograph in Kabul, surrounded by trading locals

The idyllic images were captured in 1967, when the teacher teemed up with Unesco to work in the Higher Teachers College of Kabul.
As well as building a relationship with the Afghans he encountered, the amateur photographer set out to document their way of life.

Serene images include men relaxing outside with a picnic, boys playing in the Kabul river in the sun and girls smiling during lessons.
Others show colourful marketplaces, gardens alive with colourful flowers and even a giggling boy decorating cakes.
While many feature happy Afghans, there are many of the Podlich family peacefully enjoying their time living in the country.

Shopping trip: One of Dr Podlich’s daughters, Jan, smiles during a trip to Istalif, a village 18 miles northwest of Kabul

A class at the American International School of Kabul where Peg and Jan attended. After class the girls were supervised by Indian ladies wearing saris, and were driven with about 20 students back through Kabul

Picnic In Afghanistan shows a group of young Afghans sharing tea and music in their free-time

While he was teaching, Podlich’s daughters attended classes at the American International School of Kabul, which had a number of American and foreign students with parents who lived and worked in the country.

Dr Podlich’s daughter Peg states these images are incredibly important in her eyes.

‘When I look at my dad’s photos, I remember Afghanistan as a country with thousands of years of history and culture,’ Peg Podlich told the Denver Post.

‘It has been a gut-wrenching experience to watch and hear about the profound suffering which has occurred in Afghanistan during the battles of war for nearly 40 years. Fierce and proud yet fun loving people have been beaten down by terrible forces.’

The incredible collection is now managed by Peg’s husband Clayton Esterson, who immediately recognised the historical significance of the pictures.

‘Many Afghans have written comments [on the website] showing their appreciation for the photographs that show what their country was like before 33 years of war,’ he said.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN AFGHANISTAN

1996: Taliban seize control of Kabul prohibiting women from work, and introducing Islamic punishments such as stoning to death and amputations.

1997: Taliban recognised as legitimate rulers by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. They now control about two-thirds of country.

Oct 7, 2001: President George W. Bush announces that U.S. and British troops have begun striking Afghanistan for harbouring the al-Qaeda terrorists blamed for the September 11 attacks.

December 2002: The U.S. ends the year with about 9,700 troops deployed, mostly going after Taliban insurgents.

May 2011: Bin Laden is found hiding in neighbouring Pakistan and killed in a U.S. special operations raid. There are still about 100,000 troops in Afghanistan.

June 2011: Saying the U.S. is meeting its goals in Afghanistan, Obama announces his withdrawal plan: Bring home 10,000 troops by the end of 2011.

May 2014: Obama announces his plan to pull virtually all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016, when his second term in office will be drawing to a close.

October 15, 2015: In a reversal, Obama says the situation is too fragile for the American military to leave. He announces plans to keep the current force of about 9,800 in place through most of next year to continue counter-terrorism missions and advise Afghans battling a resurgent Taliban. The plan is for the number to decrease to about 5,500 troops in 2017.

Topping up: Men stand next to their parked vehicles in a petrol station, with the rolling landscape visible behind them in the distance

Tasty feast: A smiling Afghan boy is pictured decorating mounds of different cakes piled high on plates

Splashing around: Men and boys playing, washing and swimming in the waters of the Kabul river

Play time: Young students in blue uniforms can be seen dancing to music in a school playground

Not a bad commute: Young Afghans walking home with spectacular scenery visible in the distance

Pictured is an Afghan teacher. The Higher Teachers’ College was a two-year institution for training college-level teachers

A car park of the American International School of Kabul, which the Podlich girls attended. The school no longer exists, although alumni stay in touch through Facebook and hold reunions every few years at different cities around the U.S

Taking in the view: A blonde Peg Podlich pictured in Kabul, shortly after arriving, as locals walk past

Journeying: Peg Podlich, in the sunglasses, taking a family trip on a bus from Kabul to Peshawar in Pakistan

The idyllic images were captured in 1967, when the teacher (pictured) teemed up with Unesco to work in the Higher Teachers College of Kabul

Using his Kodachrome film, his images show a peaceful Afghanistan making strides towards a more liberal and Westernised lifestyle – a stark contrast to harrowing sights seen during the Taliban regime

As well as building a relationship with the Afghans he encountered, the amateur photographer set out to document their way of life

A French academic who published Anne Frank’s diary online on 1 January despite the strenuous objections of the Anne Frank Fonds has said that the page on which he launched the text has now been viewed more than 50,000 times.

On 1 January, University of Nantes lecturer Olivier Ertzscheid and French MP Isabelle Attard separately published online the Dutch text of Frank’s account of her family’s time in hiding during the second world war. They argue that because 70 years have elapsed since Anne Frank died in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, and because across much of Europe copyright expires 70 years after an author’s death, the work has now entered the public domain.

But the Anne Frank Fonds, the foundation established by Anne’s father Otto Frank, has vigorously denied this. It claims that while Anne was the sole author of the original diaries, “Otto Frank and children’s author and translator, Mirjam Pressler, were inter alia responsible for the various edited versions of fragments of the diary”, published in 1947 and 1991, respectively, and “the copyrights to these adaptations have been vested in Otto Frank and Mirjam Pressler, who in effect created readable books from Anne Frank’s original writings”. Otto Frank died in 1980, while Pressler is still alive. So the foundation, which gives all its income to charitable causes, argues that the diary is still protected by European copyright laws.

In a letter to Ertzscheid sent in late December, the foundation asks him to “cease and desist” from making The Diary of a Young Girl available online, to “immediately” announce he was “misinformed” about the copyright in the diary, to compensate damages, and to pay €1,000 each day he does not comply with the instructions, or risk court proceedings.

Ertzscheid went ahead, however, describing it as a “gift”. “This first of January 2016, 70 years after the death of Anne Frank, because this is enough time and because it is legal, this diary, her diary, enters the public domain. It belongs to everyone. And it is up to each of us to weigh its importance,” he wrote.

Ertzscheid said that since 1 January, the article in which he provides the file has been viewed more than 50,000 times, receiving 30,000 hits on the day it was published. The diary remains online on his website, and Ertzscheid says that he will “wait and see” what the Anne Frank Fonds does next.

Attard also released a download of the diary on 1 January on her website, writing “long live Anne Frank, long live the public domain”. “Despite the legal findings of the Anne Frank Fund to slow down as much as possible this long-awaited moment, we can, as Olivier Ertzscheid said, collectively ‘after these years of the cellar, of darkness, this darkness which weighs so heavily in your diary, dear Anne Frank, have the intelligence to offer you at last the light which you deserve, that which your diary deserves, that of the public space. Welcome to the light, dear Anne’,” she wrote.

A spokesman for Attard said the MP had “no commercial goals” in her release of the diary, so was not aware of how many times it had been downloaded. “The question has been very popular though, with a coverage Isabelle never had before. Please believe this wasn’t a goal at all, it’s a by-product of the interest of the subject,” he said.

Attard also received a lawyer’s letter in December, the spokesman added, but has not heard from the Anne Frank Fonds since, other than through “insults” made to a Swiss paper, in which member of the foundation’s board of trustees Yves Kugelmann said the fact that the diary was being “expropriated and subjected to attacks by populists continues a long list of egoistic vagabonds, which began with attacks by Holocaust deniers and forgeries of the diary”.

This week, the French librarians’ association added its support to Ertzscheid and Attard, issuing a statement protesting “against the recent interpretations designed to limit the spread of the diary of Anne Frank, a work belonging to our collective memory”.

The Anne Frank Fonds also put out a new statement this week, saying that the “public discussion about the applicable duration of copyright for Anne Frank’s diaries has resulted in widespread confusion”, and reiterating its point that “the different versions of the diary of Anne Frank will remain protected for many years after 2015”, so cannot be used without its permission.

Outside Europe, the circumstances of Frank’s diary are much clearer: in the US, works first published between the 1920s and 1970s are protected for 95 years from the date of their first publication, meaning Frank’s diary, first published in the US in the 1950s, will remain protected there until the 2040s.

According to the Fonds, Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl has been translated into 67 different languages, and has sold upwards of 30m copies.

]]>http://alldaynews.net/world/anne-franks-diary-caught-in-fierce-european-copyright-battle/feed/0Who Killed Wal-Mart’s Business Model?http://alldaynews.net/world/who-killed-wal-marts-business-model/
http://alldaynews.net/world/who-killed-wal-marts-business-model/#respondSun, 17 Jan 2016 09:16:53 +0000http://alldaynews.net/?p=1351For more than three decades, Wal-Mart ruled the US retailing industry. Its large stores and everyday low prices were too much for smaller neighborhood stores and supermarkets that ended belly-up shortly after Wal-Mart invaded their turf.

]]>For more than three decades, Wal-Mart ruled the US retailing industry. Its large stores and everyday low prices were too much for smaller neighborhood stores and supermarkets that ended belly-up shortly after Wal-Mart invaded their turf.

That’s how Wal-Mart ended with close to a half-trillion in sales, dwarfing the economies of smaller countries.

But in recent years, Wal-Mart’s business model seems to have headed for the graveyard, and the company has closed scores of stores. Apparently, what used to be an asset for Wal-Mart has turned into a liability.

Who killed Wal-Mart’s business model? There is a long list of suspects.

Top on the list is Amazon. Its remote location warehouses, expedient delivery and razor-thin margins have given Amazon a price advantage over Wal-Mart. Not to mention that the proliferation of smartphone and tablets turned Wal-Mart into a storefront for Amazon.

Amazon.com versus Wal-Mart Stores

Company

Amazon.com

Wal-Mart Stores

Qtrly Revenue Growth (yoy)

+23.20%

-1.30

Qtrly Earnings Growth (yoy)

–

-11.00%

Operating Margin

1.70%

5.25%

Operating Cash

9.82B

28.10B

Revenue (ttm)

100.59B

484.10B

Source: Yahoo.Finance.com

Next on the list is a surge in minimum wage hikes across the country – and the proliferation of labor unrest in Wal-Mart stores, which has undermined another driver behind Wal-Mart’s stellar performance: cheap labor.

Company

Revenues (ttm)

Number of Employees

Walmart

$485.62B

2,200,000

Amazon

$95.81B

154,100

Source: Finance.yahoo.com 10/15/15

Then comes Costco, which has lured away the more affluent shoppers, leaving Wal-Mart with shoppers with the less affluent — shoppers with stretched budgets, relying on social security and other government benefits to pay for their purchases at the cash register, according to a recent study.

Of course, Wal-Mart has been fighting back, especially against Amazon – by pouring enormous resources into online-retailing with a well-crafted strategy that includes acquisition of on-line search technologies and building of warehouses.